DEP GEARS UP EARLY IN PINE BEETLE FIGHT, MAKES SUPPRESSION GRANTS
AVAILABLE TO LANDOWNERS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND CIVIC GROUPS

(12/P14) TRENTON - The Department of Environmental Protection is taking aggressive actions to stop the spread of the southern pine beetle through the Pinelands and adjacent regions of southern New Jersey by gearing up earlier than ever to combat the pest, which is showing disconcerting signs of early activity due to warmer than normal winter temperatures, and by making suppression grants available to private landowners, municipalities, counties and local groups.

"The DEP is preparing for another year of aggressive actions to protect our Pinelands forests," Commissioner Bob Martin said today. "We've already launched our aerial surveillance flights well ahead of schedule and have begun cutting infested trees on state lands due to early pine beetle activity.

"While it's difficult to predict what the coming season will be like, we have to be prepared to fight the pine beetle on all fronts," Commissioner Martin continued. "We are redoubling our efforts, working with our partners at the state Pinelands Commission and with local governments to continue to fight this pest."

Currently 26 municipalities in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties have been notified that they appear to have infestations. Spotty pine beetle activity has been detected in areas as far north as Ocean County .

"We applaud the Department's efforts to provide grants that will help the public battle southern pine beetles," said Nancy Wittenberg, Executive Director of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission. "We're also committed to working with the DEP to provide the tools necessary to ensure that the forests are protected."

The impact of the southern pine beetle in 2011 was less than anticipated, possibly because pine trees have been less stressed due to abundant rainfall. The DEP estimates that nearly 7,000 acres were lost to pine beetle infestations last year, much less than the estimated 14,000 acres that were affected in 2010, a year of low precipitation.

"We should not be lulled into a false sense of complacency," said State Forester Lynn Fleming. "The southern pine beetle, which has been a big problem in the southeastern United States for many years, is relatively new to New Jersey."

As part of its efforts to ratchet up the war on pine beetles, the DEP is enlisting the assistance of the DEP Science Advisory Team to better understand its behavior patterns in New Jersey. For example, the pine beetle may be able to withstand winters in New Jersey because pitch pine trees it infest tend to have thicker bark that may provide more insulation than Southern tree species, Fleming said.

The DEP has also prepared an informational tool kit to assist municipalities and private landowners in taking action to prevent the spread of pine beetles using grants that are now available.

"Some of the most extensive damage caused by the southern pine beetle is on privately held land," said Ronald Corcory, project manager for the DEP's suppression efforts. "It is critical to take action as soon as an infestation is spotted. These grants will help private landowners, municipalities and others reduce the effects and limit the spread of southern pine beetle by helping them pay for thinning, cutting and related suppression activities."

The New Jersey Forest Service is using $315,000 from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service grant program to fund three local grant programs to combat the southern pine beetle. They are:

* The Forest Health Southern Pine Beetle Cost-Share Grant Program provides matching grants up to $7,500 each to private landowners who own five or more acres of land. To be eligible, landowners must have a state-approved Forest Stewardship Plan or Woodland Management Plan that includes a southern pine beetle suppression plan. The landowner must provide 25 percent of the cost of the control activity.

* The Community Forestry Grant program provides a matching grant up to $5,000 each to assist municipalities and counties in delineating and carrying out southern pine beetle suppression activities. The recipient must have or be working on a Community Forestry Management Plan to qualify and must agree to provide an equal match in money and/or in-kind services.

* The New Jersey Forest Fire Service Community Wildfire Assistance Grant that provides 100 percent matching grants up to $10,000 each to any civic organization, homeowners association, nonprofit group or municipality for work to suppress southern pine beetle infestations on lands that may be at increased wildfire risk because of beetle damage. The fire risk must be documented in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan or a Firewise Community Plan. The recipient must provide an equal match in money and/or in-kind services.

The beetles are about the size of a grain of rice. Infestations are marked by the sudden onset of yellowish needles that quickly turn brown. Infestations usually are not recognizable until small stands of trees are affected. The bark of infested trees may show numerous excretions of yellowish-white sap oozing from tubes that the beetles bore into the bark.